Consumer Confidence Drops To A 9-Month Low
More rising fuel costs, the war in Iraq and, most importantly, a number of job-related concerns have caused the largest drop in consumer confidence in nine months in August.
In the article above there was a large decrease in joblessness in the month of August. However, despite the lower jobless claims, people are still quite nervous about recent happenings in the world, which has caused them to tighten up on spending recently. “But analysts expect job creation and personal spending for August to come in higher in reports due later this week, and pump prices have fallen more than 5 percent over the past month – providing some relief in people’s travel budgets,” stated an AP article.
However, despite the fall in confidence levels, consumers said they are making slight increases in home purchasing and major appliances, the AP also said.
“The Conference Board, a New York-based research group, said Tuesday its confidence index fell to a reading of 99.6, down from 107 in July. The index was lower than analysts’ expectations of 102.5,” said the AP.
Gary Thayer, chief economist at A.G. Edwards & Sons Inc. in St. Louis, Mo., told the AP, “It confirms that the economy is slowing down, that things are cooling off a bit and that consumers are little bit more concerned about the job situation than they were earlier this year.”
Lynn Franco, director of the Conference Board’s consumer research center, told the AP, “Consumers are feeling their dollars are getting stretched a little thin.”
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